It’s comforting to know that all the Developers of these huge condo towers in Vancouver have spent the extra money to make sure they are safe during an earthquake!!NOT!!!!and that the “Village” will not slip into False Creek. I don’t even want to think about Richmond: jelly if there’s an earthquake and submerged if there’s a Tsunami.

I wonder how all the buildings on the reclaimed land around False Creek would do in an earthquake. I think the areas most at risk would be around Granville Island, Olympic village, City gate and Yaletown waterfront.

Richmond is particularly at risk of soil liquefaction during a severe (probably 6+) quake. Because Richmond lies on basically water–soaked soil it may, or probably will, liquefy, turning into quicksand. Buildings and infrastructure will sink in the most affected areas. Richmond is the last place you want to be if a big one strikes the Lower Mainland. But for God’s sake, keep it quiet! If the Chinese hear that they might stop coming and buying up the place. Then what?

At times like these… one cannot help but reflect upon the state [or lack thereof] of Emergency Preparedness in the Lower Mainland…

Although the following two pieces date to the period immediately preceding the Winter Olympics, there has been no follow-up/amelioration that Nemesis is aware of/or could find…

Bear in mind, that in a ‘worst case scenario’ – YVR will essentially be isolated from the world at large (Richmond and the airport will do an ‘Atlantis’ and all bridges & tunnels to metro Vancouver could be out/down)…

[CBC] – Elite Vancouver rescue team disbanded – Urban search and rescue team being restructured following city review

[TimesColonist] – Celebrated Vancouver rescue team under review on eve of Olympics

“VANCOUVER — Less than two months before the start of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, about 20 members of Vancouver’s crack Urban Search and Rescue team — which won Canada kudos in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — have been relieved of their duties.”…

Proper preparation would be extremely expensive.
It’s a bit like snowfall preparation, where we seem to have ‘decided’ that it’s overall better to not spend money each year keeping up very many snowplows, and to kinda just hope we don’t have heavy snowfall most years. Then, winter of 2008-2009, large parts of the city glued up for weeks.
It seems it is easier for groups/government to decide to avoid short term expense, and simply hope that ‘the big one’ doesn’t happen (at least not on their watch).
There are short term benefits to avoiding insurance payments…

In other Japanese disaster related news… It turns out that stricken ‘Katagi’ [ordinary Japanese citizens] are far more likely to receive relief aid/comfort from sympathethic regional Yakuza than from national/governmental authorities/channels…

[NYT] – In Japan’s Danger Zone, the Stranded Await the Merciful

“YAMAGATA, Japan — Some are stuck in their homes, fearful of radiation, heeding government warnings to stay indoors, cut off without electricity or phone service. Others want to leave but have no gasoline. Still more, those whose homes were ruined, wait helplessly for evacuation at crowded shelters. All face dwindling supplies of heating fuel, food and water. A week after an earthquake and tsunami devastated their communities and set off the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, the plight of the thousands still stranded in areas near the stricken reactors — many too old or infirm to move — has underscored what residents say is a striking lack of help from the national government to assist with the evacuation of danger zones or the ferrying of supplies to those it has urged to stay inside. “…

“…Hours after the first shock waves hit, two of the largest crime groups went into action, opening their offices to those stranded in Tokyo, and shipping food, water, and blankets to the devastated areas in two-ton trucks and whatever vehicles they could get moving. The day after the earthquake the Inagawa-kai (the third largest organized crime group in Japan which was founded in 1948) sent twenty-five four-ton trucks filled with paper diapers, instant ramen, batteries, flashlights, drinks, and the essentials of daily life to the Tohoku region. An executive in Sumiyoshi-kai, the second-largest crime group, even offered refuge to members of the foreign community—something unheard of in a still slightly xenophobic nation, especially amongst the right-wing yakuza. The Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest crime group, under the leadership of Tadashi Irie, has also opened its offices across the country to the public and been sending truckloads of supplies, but very quietly and without any fanfare.”…

In stark contrast with the kindness/generosity of heretofore criminal pariahs – in these sad, ‘bizarro’ times of inverted totalitarianism is it really so surprising to discover such widespread governmental and institutional indifference/malfeasance?…

Or, if you prefer (and with apologies to Paul Henning and Flat&Scruggs), substitute this more timely lyric…

The Ballad Of Muammar/’Odyssey Dawn’

Come and listen to a story about a man named Muammar
A desert autocrat, with bodacious bodyguards
One fine day he was shootin’ up the hood,
And up through the ground came a bubblin’ crude.

Oil that is
Black gold
Arabian tea.

Well the first thing you know ol Mu’s a zillionaire,
Kinfolk said “Mu, move away from there”
Said “Araby is the place you ought to be”
So they loaded up the Merc, and drove to Tripoli…

Dunes, that is.
Swimmin’ pools.
Pop stars.

Well now it’s time to say goodbye to Mu and all his kin.
And they’d like to thank Sarkozy fer kindly droppin’ in.
You’re all invited back again to this locality
To have a heapin’ helpin’ o’ NATO hospitality

CAP, Close Support, Ground Attack – that is.
Set a spell, take your armour off

Sadly, locating the following citation was an earnest toss-up between this thread and ‘Hoocoodanode’ (for purely thematic purposes)…

[ZeroHedge] – Japanese Mayor, Disgusted With The Government’s Crisis Response, Appeals For Help To The Entire World

“The mayor of Minami Soma city, located 25 km away from the Fukushima plant, had decided to bypass the traditional channels in requesting assistance out of disgust and frustration with the government’s handling of the disaster, and instead is appealing to the entire world via this soon to be viral video clip which was recorded over a week ago but is only now making the rounds. In the clip, mayor Katsunobu Sakurai says: “We are left to ourselves… we risk dying of hunger.””…

Further to ongoing ‘developments’ at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi site… the following ‘ThisModernWorld’ penned by TruthOut cartoonist/satirist ‘Tom Tomorrow’ is simply too delicious not to share here/now…

[TruthOut/TomTomorrow] – Nuclear Safety: Explained by The Invisible Hand of the Free Market